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Venus Christmas
Venus Christmas is the largest and the most widely-celebrated seasonal event on Venus Island, containing many smaller traditions as well as being a tradition in itself. The first Venus Christmas party in 2015, suggested by Hannah and Rosalie who assisted in organising the event, was a simple party along the lines of Venus Halloween parties, but Christmas-themed. It was not until the 2017 Venus Christmas party that, thanks to the input of Nicole, the event was made substantially grander. Christmas Celebrations From the first of December all the way until the thirtieth of December, Venus Island is adorned with beautiful festive lights and decorations; unlike with Venus Halloween and Venus New Year decorations, Venus Christmas decorations are abundant across much of the southern, civilised portion of the island, especially in Venus Plaza. Many islanders also take the opportunity to decorate their own homes, inside and out, with various festive decor. The fountain in Venus Plaza is disabled during the Christmas period and a giant, custom-made Christmas tree is set up in the fountain in such a way so as to make the fountain appear like it is the pot in which the tree is planted. This tree is as lavishly decorated in much the same way as the rest of the island, with all manner of baubles, tinsel, and bright, flashing lights made sure to leave no "empty spots" on the tree. On top of this, instead of a star or angel on the very top of the tree, there is a glittering and golden Venus Island logo that lights up along with the rest of the tree's lights. Adonis Restaurant Another, albeit regular-sized, Christmas tree is set up in the corner of Adonis Restaurant, with the same level of decor as the giant plaza tree and a smaller light-up Venus Island logo on top of it. This tree also has fake presents piled up underneath it to add that extra festive touch. From the first of December to the thirtieth of December, Adonis Restaurant's Christmas menu becomes available to order from. The menu lists a variety of different starters, main courses, and desserts appropriate for the festive season, and some exclusive to the festive season. Secret Santa One of the largest changes that Nicole introduced to the Venus Christmas celebrations was the tradition of Secret Santa. This tradition involves buying an islander(s) a gift and labelling the gift with only the recipient and not the sender, so as to make it a mystery as to who the gift is from. This tradition is not mandatory, and properly-labelled gifts can still be given to other islanders, just not at the Secret Santa gathering. Secret Santa gifts must be purchased and wrapped by the evening of Christmas Eve at the latest, and must be given to Rachel who will store the gifts in her office until Christmas morning. In the morning of Christmas Day, a number of Christmas trees are set up in Venus Hall - the exact number depending on how many Secret Santa presents there are - and the Secret Santa gifts are moved from Rachel's office to underneath the trees. Islanders are free to open any presents they may have received beforehand, outside of Secret Santa, when they wake up on Christmas morning. At 8:00AM, however, all islanders gather in Venus Hall for the Secret Santa gathering. Here, they are free to open any presents they find for themselves underneath the trees while Paige further sets a festive atmosphere with jolly Christmas music. Christmas Dinner Christmas music continues until 10:00AM, when the Secret Santa service is over and islanders can go about their business. Christmas music will continue to play in Adonis Restaurant all day, however. A mini-tradition on Christmas Day on Venus Island is Taylor's Monopoly challenge, which involves three other islanders taking Taylor on in Monopoly in the Arcade around 1:00PM in the afternoon. Few islanders are willing to step up to this challenge after hearing of Taylor's skill in the game, so it is usually the same three determined islanders (Michelle, Natalie, and Rachel) taking her on each year. Christmas Dinner The islanders gather together in Venus Hall again in the evening, this time for Christmas dinner. Beforehand, however, banquet tables are set up and laid out, and many islanders help out in the restaurant's kitchen to cook and prepare all of the food. Islanders will have pre-selected what they wish to eat for Christmas dinner prior to Christmas Day, so it can all be easily made and laid out ready to eat. Paige will once again be playing Christmas music in Venus Hall from 5:30PM, when islanders who are not involved with preparing the food will start to gather in the hall. However, islanders cannot eat until everyone is gathered at the table and all of the food is ready. Everyone may begin to eat once everyone is present and the food is all prepared, but it is tradition to first thank the islanders who prepared the food for everyone for doing so. After Eating Christmas music in Venus Hall lasts until 7:30PM, at which point most of the islanders will have left and the process of cleaning up begins. Fewer islanders assist in washing everything up than cooking the food in the first place, but some still do. After eating, it is once again up to the islanders what they choose to do. Another mini-tradition involves Nicole, after having finished washing up from Christmas dinner, inviting islanders into her home to watch Christmas films together for the evening. Thanks to the large collection of Christmas DVDs in Nicole's possession, word quickly spread about the movie night at Nicole's home in the evening, leading to more than half of the islanders joining the group. Trivia *Taylor prefers four players in a game of Monopoly, as she claims that more players will just lead to no-one winning. *Michelle always suggests once each year during the movie night at Nicole's home that the next film shoudl be Die Hard, and is always rejected. Category:Festivities